David s



, Patented Jan. 3|,l899.

No. 618,7l4.

D. S. MCMULLEN. GATE. (Application flied A 24, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Ens co closed position.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID S. MOMULLEN, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN STEELAND WIRE COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 618,714, dated January31, 1899.

Application filed August 24, 1898. Serial No. 689,395. No modem To allwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID S. MCMULLEN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Evanston, county of Cook, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gates, ofwhich the following is a specification and which are fully illustratedin the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to that class of gates in which the gate has botha sliding and pivotal connection with the supporting-post, so that inopening it is first moved longitudinally upon a supporting-bracket andthen swung to a position parallel with the driveway.

The objects of the invention are to provide improved-means forsupporting the gate so that when closed its weight assists in securingit to the fastening-hook with which its swing end is engaged and tosimplify and cheapen the construction of gates of this class. Theseobjects are attained by the construction hereinafter fully described andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is anelevation of the gate in its Fig. 2 is a plan view showing in solidlines the gate in its closed position and in dotted lines in its openposition. Fig. 3 is a sectional View on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Figs.stand 5 are sections on lines 44. and 5 5, Fig. l.

"he gate A is shown as being oblong-rectangular in form and having aframe of a continuous piece of T-steel, the flange or stem of the Tbeing directed inwardly, and having wires or cables a stretched betweenits ends and midway of its length a vertical cross-bar B. The hinge-postis shown at O and the latch-post at G. The gate is hung upon a U- shapedswivel-block D, carried by a shank or bracketE in L form, the longer armof which is driven into the post 0 and the shorter arm of which is bentdownwardly and extends through the bow of the block D as apivot. A- pairof rollers d are mounted upon a suitable arbor, uniting the arms of theblock D, and are spaced apart to accommodate the flange of the T-railforming the frame of the gate, the head of the rail resting upon the tworollers.

The bottom of the gate is guided by an L- shaped hook F, driven into thepost 0, its head extending through the gate and being turned downwardlyto engage the flange of the lower side of the gate-frame. The hooks E Fproject from the post 0 diagonally with reference to the driveway, sothat the gate may slide past the post O without being turned. In openingthe gate the cross-barB serves as a stop, and being locatedsubstantially midway between the ends of the gate the latter is balancedwhen the cross-bar comes in contact with the swivel-block and the lowerguide-hook, so that it may be easily swung to the posit-ion indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 2. w

The latch-post G is provided with a pair of hooks, the upper one, H, ofwhich turns upwardly and the lower one, K, of which is turnedhorizontally toward the driveway. The gate is secured by being caughtover the upper hook and within the lower one.

The upper corner a of the hinge end of the gate is curved, and the postsO G are spaced apart, so that in order to lodge the gate upon the hookII it is necessary to draw it toward the post G until the curved portionof the corner Ct is carried up upon the roller d. When the longitudinalstrain is released, the gate settles back by reason of this cam form ofits corner a, and its swing end is thereby drawn into closer engagementwith the hook H. This hook H is set in the post obliquely to thedirection of the gate when closed, so that as the gate is drawnbackwardly by the cam action of its corner a the lateral end of the hookbinds against the web of the top rail and the body portion of the hookbinds against the web portion of the end rail of the gate-frame,gripping the gate so firmly that it cannot be easily dislodged from thehook without drawing it slightly forward. The length of the lateralportion of the hook K is such that this retraction of the gate does notrelease it from engagement with this hook.

Instead of using the hook K a notch P may be cut in the'web of the endrail of the gateframe and a headed pin 19 may be set in the post G toengage this notch, so that in securing the gate its frame is caught overboth the hook H and the pin 1), and as the gate settles back by reasonof the action of the cam a the notch P engages the pin 1), therebyeifectu ally preventing the gate from being raised without being firstdrawn forwardly. The head of the pin 1) secures the gate againstpressure upon its opposite side.

Vhen the hook K is used, a pin 0, preferably permanently secured to thepost G by means of a piece of chain, may be employed to prevent the gatefrom being moved upwardly by being set through a hole M in the web ofthe end rail of the gate-frame, a socket of course being provided in thepost G to register with this hole. When the pin p is used in cooperationwith the notch P or an equivalent device, it will not be found necessaryto employ the pin 0, as the locking of the gate is automatic.

\Vhile I have shown the gate-frame as being formed of T- steel, anyother form of frame may be employed-such, for example, as a gas-pipeframeand it will be understood, of course, that with any modification inthe form of the gate there will be a corresponding modification in theform of the rollers d.

\Vhile I have shown a gate having all of its corners rounded, thelocking action is dependent only upon the rounding of the corner a. Therounding of the other corners is incidental to the form of frame used.The cam action of the corner a could be seen red by any other form ofinclined rail for running upon the supporting-swivel.

\Vhile I have shown a cam movement for retracting the gate after it hasbeen drawn forward to engage with the latch-post, I do not desire to berestricted to this form of construction, as any means which willaccomplish this retraction for the purpose of locking the gate will comewithin the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a post and with aswivel-block carried thereby, of a gate supported by the block andcapable of longitudinal movement thereon, the gate having the rearwardend of its block-engaging track i11- olined downwardly.

2. The combination with a gate adapted to slide longitudinally inopening, of a latchpost, a pin projecting from such post, and means fordrawing the gate longitudinally away from the latch-post, the gatehaving in an upright member a lateral bearingsurface adapted to bebrought into engagement with the pin by such movement.

3. The combination with a hinge-post and a latch-post for a gate, abracket projecting laterally from the hinge-post and being oblique to aline connecting the two posts, a swivelblock carried by the bracket, andan upturned hook projecting laterallyfrom the latch-post obliquely as toa line connecting the two posts, of a gate supported by and adapted toslide upon the swivel-block, and having intersecting longitudinal andvertical members for engaging the hook in the latch-post, and means fordrawing the gate longitudinally away from the latch-post.

4. The combination with a gate having a rectangular frame with a roundedupper corner at its hinge end and a notch in the inner face of itsswing-end rail, of a hinge-post, a bracket projecting laterallytherefrom, a swivel-block carried by the bracket and supporting and insliding engagement with the top rail of the gate-frame, a latch-post, anup turned hook set in the latch-post for engaging the upper corner ofthe swing end of the gateframe, and a pin projecting from the latchpostfor engaging the notch aforesaid.

5. The combination with a gate having a rectangular frame with a roundedupper corner at its hinge end and a notch in the inner face of itsswing-end rail, of a hinge-post, a bracket projecting laterallytherefrom, a swiveLbloek carried by the bracket and supporting and insliding engagement with the top rail of the gate-frame, a latch-post, anupturned hook set in the latch-post for engaging the upper corner of theswing end of the gateframe, and a headed pin projecting from thelatch-post for engaging the notch aforesaid.

DAVID MQMULLEN.

Vitnesses:

D. J. MCMULLEN, F. B. MolriULLnN.

